Latest News from Greece

Eurostat is expected on Wednesday to ratify the 2013 primary budget surplus, which will serve as the trigger for the further lightening of the Greek debt. The announcement will be the focus of Thursdays Euro Working Group along with the presentation of a new growth plan for the Greek economy aimed at changing conditions in the country.

A 51-year-old American woman who suffered serious stomach injuries during Easter celebrations on Saturday night when a large firecracker was thrown into a church courtyard on the island of Santorini remained in critical condition on Tuesday in the intensive-care unit of a hospital in Iraklio, Crete, but doctors said her condition was improving.

Greece is set to ask its eurozone partners when the Eurogroup meets on May 5 for permission to gradually reduce corporation tax rates as part of a wider plan to generate growth in Greece, Kathimerini understands.

Former Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou issued a statement on Tuesday denying claims that the International Monetary Funds ex-Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn had insisted that the Greek debt be restructured as part of the bailout deal signed in May 2010.

French energy giant Electricite de France (EDF) expressed last week its interest in the privatization of Greeces Public Power Corporation (PPC), just as the government is poised to sell off part of the electricity company under a scheme dubbed Small PPC.

Eurobank and National are rushing to make the most of the favorable climate for Greece in global markets, as the former is beginning the process of its share capital increase this week and the latter is expected to open the book for its new five-year bond on Tuesday.

The European Commissions statistical arm, Eurostat is expected to confirm on Wednesday the size of Greeces 2013 primary budget surplus, which the government hopes will further boost its argument that it made the right decision to stick with the fiscal adjustment program agreed with the eurozone and International Monetary Fund.

One Cretan man was killed, a man from central Greece suffered hand injuries and an American visiting Santorini was hospitalized in an intensive care unit following over-exuberant Easter celebrations in various parts of the country.